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Foster City Hit by Ransomware, Pauses Most Services and Moves Toward Emergency Declaration

Outside specialists are assisting an investigation into possible public data exposure.

Overview

  • City IT staff detected the ransomware early Thursday and took most computer systems offline as a precaution.
  • Emergency services, including 911 and dispatch, have remained operational after brief outages to police phone lines were restored.
  • Non-emergency public services are paused, and City Hall is open with limited services available to the public.
  • Officials warn public and personal information may be at risk and urge anyone who has done business with the city to change passwords and safeguard their data.
  • An active investigation and incident-response effort are underway, and leaders are pursuing a state-of-emergency declaration to access outside financial and technical support.